


Her Clan

by levigate



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 18:06:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2661425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/levigate/pseuds/levigate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lavellan was just a Dalish elf, apprentice to the Keeper, and certainly not the First. More like the Last. She expected someone else to lead the Inquisition. Cassandra maybe. She didn’t expect them to offer it to her.</p><p>(a write-up of the scene where you’re formally named Inquisitor)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Clan

**Author's Note:**

> Not much to say here. Playing through DA:I and this scene just struck me, that's all. It was going to be humor (because who the hell decided to give my skinny Dalish MAGE a big-ass sword? Like, what the hell? She just looked so silly holding it up...) but of course if I set out to write humor it will end up serious, and my serious work devolves into crack. *sigh* not beta'd, because my beta hasn't gotten that far in the game yet. And I had the hardest time spelling Lavellan right so let me know if I missed one :/

Lavellan wandered through the massive fortress, hoping that no one else noticed just how lost she was. It had been a little over a week, but she simply couldn't make heads or tails of where she was. Varric had teased her once about her tendency to get lost in large buildings, but she was used to the forest. Give her a trail to find any day over a cramped building like SKyhold. Well, perhaps cramped wasn't the correct word; it was the largest building Lavellan had ever seen. After spending most of her life under the sky though, Lavellan considered most buildings to be small and cramped. 

She missed Haven. There she'd have the option to sleep outside, or perhaps in one of the tents if the weather was particularly foul, and no one would look at her twice. Now, she was expected to sleep in a rather lavish room. She especially appreciated the large windows and doors and small balcony. She wondered what her friends would think of her if they knew that the balcony was her preferred sleeping place. 

Finally, she made it outside, blinking and looking for a familiar face. There were just so many people, and Lavellan was feeling the strain of so many strangers around her all the time. Her clan hadn't exactly been isolationist, but their encounters with other clans or the occasional human cities to trade supplies with had been few and far between. 

Standing in a loose circle outside was Cullen, Cassandra, Leliana, and Josephine. Lavellan hid the rush of relief she felt as she saw them. She stood in the doorway a moment, unsure if she should approach, when Cassandra spotted her. Cassandra smiled and waved her over, and Lavellan walked towards the group. The other three smiled as she approached and murmured polite excuses, leaving Lavellan and Cassandra alone. Cassandra stood tall, holding herself in what Cullen had called 'at ease' while training the troops. 

"They arrive daily from every settlement in the region," Cassandra explained, looking away. Lavellan followed her gaze. They watched the people for a moment. Soldiers laughing around a campfire, enjoying their break. Two humans stood nearby, hugging in happy relief that they had made it to Skyhold, while others moved around them, hard at work to restore the stronghold. "Skyhold is becoming a pilgrimage." 

Cassandra started walking, and Lavellan followed. "If word has reached these people, it has reached the Elder One. We have the walls and numbers to put up a fight here, but this threat is far beyond the war we had anticipated," she explained as they moved together up a flight of stairs. "But we now know what allowed you to stand against Corypheus, what drew him to you."

The stopped at the top of the stairs, and Cassandra looked at Lavellan. "Does it matter? He's mad," said Lavellan disdainfully. Rabid animals needed to be put down. They were dangerous, but with a little skill could be taken care of.

Cassandra shook her head at Lavellan, "That may be true, but that's not why you're still standing here." She continued walking, under a stone archway and past brilliant red and orange foliage growing alongside the massive walls. "Your decisions let us heal the sky. Your determination brought us out of Haven.

"You are the creature's rival because of what you did. And we know it, all of us," Cassandra led Lavellan up another flight of stairs, where Leliana stood at the landing, a large, heavy-looking sword in her hands. Leliana moved forward to show it to Lavellan. It was, Lavellan supposed, rather nice for a sword. It looked well made, and the hild and guard were quite detailed and very fancy.

"The Inquisition requires a leader: the one who has already been leading it," Cassandra explained, and Lavellan looked away momentarily, in denial. "You," finished Cassandra gently. She could hear voices now, hundreds of voices murmuring, and saw Cullen and Josephine ushering people into the large courtyard. Lavellan looked up at Cassandra.

"I...don't know what to say," she said mildly, voice shaking. While she had been apprentice to the Keeper, raised to potentially lead, so had half a dozen others. Istimaethoriel hadn't even favored her, either. She wasn't the First, more like the Last. While she had ostensibly been sent to the Conclave to observe, it was an open secret that she was the one chosen because no one else could go. She was too brash, too unobservant, and had a hard time planning ahead. While they would have mourned had she been lost, the clan would not have suffered as a whole. And now these people wanted her to lead this Inquisition? Impossible. It was full of humans and dwarves and Lavellan wanted nothing more than to run away, back north to her clan, or maybe to another group of Dalish. Surely someone would take her in?

Cassandra must have heard the fear and uncertainty in her voice, and she let out a small sigh. "Say that you will not make me regret this," she said, and Lavellan turned back to her. "If you're not sure, why do it?" she raised her hands in confusion and dropped them back to her sides uselessly. Cassandra looked her straight in the eye, and Lavellan took a measure of comfort in her next words.

“Because I believe this is what was meant to be. That without you there would be no Inquisition,” she turned to Leliana and gestured towards the sword, indicating for Lavellan to take it. Lavellan moved forward slowly.

“What it means for the future, how you lead us, that is entirely up to you.” Lavellan stared at the blade and reached for it, taking a steadying breath. She gripped it with one hand, admiring the dragon carved on the hilt. It was as heavy as it looked, and she mused that someone had thought to give the mage a sword three-quarters her height.

“This isn't about the greater message,” she said, thinking of everyone who had fallen in Haven. This wasn't about races, or being a mage, and she had no interest in power for the sake of itself. This wasn't about faith either. She wasn't a Herald of Andraste, or anyone holy, no matter what anyone said. If anything, she suspected Fen'Harel was having a laugh at her expense. “We have an enemy and we have to stand together. We'll do what is right. The Inquisition will fight for all of us.” 

“Wherever you lead us,” agreed Cassandra, moving past Lavellan to address the large gathering. “Have our people been told?” she called, voice ringing across the courtyard. Voices died down as everyone began paying close attention.

“They have,” replied Josephine, moving forward, “and soon the world.”

“Commander, will they follow?” cried Cassandra. Cullen responded by asking the people directly.

“Inquisition! Will you follow?” the people's cheering made the answer more clear than anything he could have said.

“Will you fight? Will we triumph?” the shouting grew, everyone happy and confident. There had been losses at Haven, but they would win. 

“Your leader! Your herald!” he drew his sword and raised it high. “Your Inquisition!”

Lavellan hesitated for only a moment before returning his gesture, raising her own sword high above her head, overwhelmed by it all. The whole courtyard was thundering now, screaming and shouting in an overwhelming display of solidarity she could have never expected. The sword was heavy in her hand, and she strained to hold high. She could feel Leliana and Cassandra smiling, and Cullen acknowledged her efforts with a smile and grin at a job well done, before lowering his sword. 

Lavellan continued to hold hers high, however. She knew now what Istimaethoriel had meant, when she said that responsibility was a heavy burden. The sword was a symbol, and she held it despite the shaking of her straining muscles. These people were counting on her, and she couldn't let them down. They were not the Lavellan clan, or Dalish. Most of them weren't even elves. And yet they were her people. Her clan. Keeper had been a title out of her reach. She had no head for histories, or care for the long forgotten. She respected it, but it had never interested her. Inquisitor, though. That could have meaning. She slowly lowered her weapon and nodded to Cassandra. It was time to get to work.


End file.
